First, the bad news: Lucy Glöckner (Kawasaki Schnock Team Motorex) didn’t compete in the second race. She fractured her third lumbar vertebra in a crash during the morning race. With Lucy out, the only Kawasaki in the field was also absent.
On the track, the trio of Ilya Mikhalchik (alpha Racing-Van Zon-BMW), fast-starting Bastien Mackels (Wilbers BMW), and Julian Puffe (alpha Racing-Van Zon-BMW) quickly regrouped. They closed in on each other more and more, but in the end nothing changed at the front, and the podium was the same as after the first race: winner Mikhalchik in the top center, Mackels in second place to his left, and Puffe to his right. It was a BMW-only affair.
From fourth place onward, each rider was on their own—with moderate gaps to the riders ahead and behind. In the top ten, this included Stefan Kerschbaumer (MPB Racing, Yamaha), Pepijn Bijsterbosch (BMW), Jan Halbich (Honda Holzhauer Racing Promotion), Dominic Schmitter (HPC-Power Suzuki), Toni Finsterbusch (Suzuki Mayer), Jan Mohr (MPB Racing), and Bobby Bos (Yamaha). Daniel Kartheininger (MPB Racing, Yamaha) would have been there as well had he not crashed on the third lap.
Mayor Marko Bias was bursting with pride for his fellow Schleiz resident Julian Puffe and had the honor of presenting him with the trophy. The mayor has high hopes for the 22-year-old race car driver: “He’s still young, and maybe one day a Schleiz native will actually win in Schleiz.”
In any case, Puffe has now caught up with the leaders. “I didn’t get off to the best start and dropped back to fourth place, but I was able to quickly make my way back up to the front. The weekend was very productive for us and showed that I can keep up with Ilya and Bastien. Now I just need to be able to attack as well.”
Mikhalchik was blown away by his two victories: “The Schleizer Dreieck is one of the toughest courses I’ve ever raced on.”